Everyone has a different perspective- a different outlook on life. How we all choose to interpret the world we share depends on what lens we use. Our attitudes, choices, and actions are all affected by the angle and way we look out of our own lenses. My lifelooklens varies. One lens stays true to capture all the things in my world. I take pictures of EVERYTHING. I'm glad I do and don't mind if some think my pictures and ramblings are boring. This blog is a glimpse at life through my lens...

Thursday, June 28, 2012

On a hot day of June,
a lonely sprinkler sat baking in radiating sunshine, remembering its days of
usefulness. How two little girls had hopped over it, giggling with delight, as
it sprayed them with refreshing, cool water. Running and jumping over aquatic
arches projected by its spinning summer dance, the young girls skipped merrily
under reflected rainbows of light. How our poor, disheartened sprinkler now
missed those days!

play n scroll on...

Sulking in shadows, it now wondered where its companions
could be- Surely something terrible must have happened to them, thought the
sprinkler, for they loved him too much to ever leave him alone- and especially
on such a sweltering day! Now and again, he pondered whether or not his little
happy companions would ever return- his hope fading with each day of
companionless existence that passed. Who was this woman now standing over him-
and holding such a strange flashing device? Could it be that this girl is one
of the two missing friends from my only happy memories? Our sprinkler pondered
this possibility for some time as the mysterious lady now circled him, before
concluding she could not be one of the little girls he’d known so well. She
looked far too serious and neither of his long lost friends ever furrowed their
brows- Nor did they point strange objects in his direction that frightened him.
Alas!- thought the sprinkler, for he now knew something dreadful must have
happened to his beloved children.

Our sprinkler's anxious thoughts were suddenly
soothed by a familiar sound that he swore he must have merely imagined hearing…that…laughter…I’ve
heard that before! Delighted at what he now affirmed to be reality rather than
delusion, the sprinkler watched the serious circling lady and was mesmerized.
Another woman had entered that backyard and whatever she said to the strange
lady still hovering above, must have been something funny for now she laughed.
Her laugh sounded just as little sprinkler had remembered it- and the other woman’s voice, though
it had changed somewhat, still carried tones of joy that identified it in an
instant. Lonely sprinkler beamed as brightly as did the sun on this day, for
his best friends had finally returned home.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Club level seats? YES.
Our seats were perfect at the concert, since June temperatures in Nashville
were sweltering that day. The only shade afforded by LP Stadium was cast over
our row by the sun’s perfect angle when our show began. I’ve wanted to see Tim
McGraw perform live since I was little and our view from club level allowed me
to check this goal off my life’s bucket list, in style.

We parked about two
miles from LP Field to avoid traffic that would surely prevent me from
witnessing the epic entrance of Mr. McGraw. Parking costs were 5 bucks lower in
the lot we chose, but still totaled $20.00. Josh and I walked towards the show
and I couldn’t resist snapping pictures of this bridge on our way.

A bridge history
lesson was learned unexpectedly on our journey. Sometimes, walking a few extra feet (or miles, in our case) is worth it. I'd never noticed this sign before when driving by, but it caught my eye when traveling on-foot.

Over the river and
through the bridge, to summer concerts we go!

I love taking shots
like this one- through objects, with blue skies as my background.

We hurriedly crossed
the bridge, but not without first getting a picture of Nashville’s skyline.

Lines and skies,
pretty to my eyes.

Glistening waters
shone brightly as the setting sun cast its last hours of splendor upon Nashville.
Some boats had cleverly docked up on the water, no doubt in efforts to save money by getting within earshot of country superstars’ songs. Not a bad
idea, but I would not be satisfied if a bird’s eye view of the show were
unavailable from my boat...I'm a big fan, folks.

At last, our destination
was within reach…just a few more steps. (few=1,000, or so.) Josh kept the
ridiculous walking pace I’d set for us as I kept clicking my camera. (Mr.
Stylus better not fail, I thought along the way.)

Josh is the subject
of, in my opinion, my best black and white pictures. This particular day
reinforced that belief.

Community awareness
sign in LP Field parking lot, educating visitors about texting procedures and
protocol for reporting unruly fans. I was unable to read the fine print that
would surely provide detailed explanations for what actions are “unruly” enough
to justify texted reports. I wonder if 9-1-1 accepts text messages. Maybe they
handle unruly fan incidents- anything more serious, and I guess you have to
make a call. I wonder if texted reports result in a response text from
security. Something like, “Thank you for reporting unruly fans. Please respond
to the next series of questions to assist security in accurately assessing your
report. 1.) Is your unruly fan just yelling excessively? 2.) Is your unruly fan
intoxicated? 3.) Estimate approx. stadium location of unruly fan., etc. I kind
of want to test this whole text reporting thing out just to see how it works. I
guess I’ll have to wait for a fan to get completely out of control to see what
happens when I perform my civic text messaging duties.

Our shaded stadium
area! This was a wonderful and welcomed surprise to two hot, tired travelers.

Slightly Slanted
Snapshots are fun sometimes.

Stadium Seating

I’ll honestly admit
that I wasn’t incredibly familiar with Grace Potter, but she opened for McGraw
and Chesney. Though her songs aren’t my favorite, she’s has a great voice and
envious good looks.

Josh may not have
enjoyed her songs, either, but I’m fairly sure he agreed that Ms. Potter is
beautiful and talented.

Of course, I can’t
resist trying out some black and white edit effects. It always makes things
& people look classier to me.

View from outside our
club level floor, where smokers and passersby bustle and provide exceptional
entertainment value to any observer.

Josh and I are
featured in this photo as gawking shadow figures. An excellent example of
unacceptable concert ensembles is featured here at the most flattering angle
possible. Why this girl subjected herself to our silent ridicule is
hypothesized as a desperate need for attention- even if it’s the worst kind.
What not to wear called…they want to help you. I get the part about wanting to
look like a cowgirl for a country music concert. What I have trouble deciphering
is her decision to select Daisy Dukes over longer, less-revealing chaps. Sort
of like Mr. Speedo Man (see prev. blog), Ms. Jigglely Wiggely pranced by us
with remarkable confidence unbefitting of her fashion disaster.

Criss-cross, zig-zag,
smokers out here take a drag.

I love how this girl’s
white top contrasts with the city-themed background. If only my camera could have
zoomed further, I would have focused more on this stranger in my picture.
Still, featured here are fellow observers of smokers and fashion crimes
committed by traveling fans.

LP Field

Enter Mr. McGraw…fans
scream, I scream, we all scream for this dream! (or insert better childhood
rhyme that would be appropriate, while also suggestive of…ahem, adult dreams.)
Notice the definition in his arms, conveniently enlarged by a huge screen for
fans near and far. I think I can probably count this day as one of the best I’ve
had in my 24 years of existence. My wedding day to Mr. Hodge is rated first,
though…yeah, that’s the very best day of them all.

White shirt, white
pants…nobody else could pull it off like he did.

Josh and my cousin,
Clay sat down as we girls droned on about how awesome Tim looks even though he’s
aged since his initial popularity. Guess our guys got a little tired of our
middle-school giggles and conversations about our lifelong crush.

And the crowd goes
wild…

Some lucky fans shook
his hand. I’d probably faint if I ever got that close. There are few
celebrities who can provoke the level of crazy fan in me, but he’s definitely
one of them.

Brothers of the Sun
Tour, Nashville, TN

There was one particular "brother" who made me camera-trigger-happy.

One cowboy, among
thousands of others, came out for this concert.

City through rails

Josh’s concert-watching
stance

Home of Country Music’s
Skyline

Vastness of LP Stadium,
slanted sideways

Walking back to our
car, I had to capture nightlights of Nashville as we crossed the bridge that
had lead us to a night that would forever be remembered. Boats were still docked
near river shores, and the true motivation of boat captains now became
apparent. Even 2 miles away from LP, we could surprisingly hear lyrics and
instruments with unaltered volume and clarity. Upon our downtown arrival, we’d
noticed boats that had docked miles away from the concert and I had
underestimated their clever and thrifty decision to avoid stadium crowds when
auditory ability could be afforded by their location. On their securely tied
boats, these pirate fans were able to hear everything that we had enjoyed…and
their beers didn’t cost $9 each. However, our boat boarded buddies were
deprived of the visual satisfaction I had enjoyed at our recently departed
location.

This happened.

Mr.
Stylus was apparently jealous of Mr. Mcgraw (and of course, Mr. Hodge, as always) so he
decided to randomly distort one of my attempts at a night time photo-capture of
our hometown’s glowing lights. No edit required. Relationship with my ex camera
to be re-assessed, as this photo was an effortless favorite that I have yet to
explain. :)

My Aunts, Renee and
Kim, are the BEST! Josh and I could not have had a better time and have them to
thank for spoiling us by helping me meet my lifetime crush, Tim McGraw. Though
he still looks sexy and sings like a nightingale (a country nightingale, mind
you), my Josh makes him a nobody. That said, it was still incredible to share
my bucket list #3 (approximately, under skydiving, etc.) on this night!